Donor Experience - What's the Big Deal?

Participating in a workplace giving web forum today, I was pleased when someone raised questions about 'donor experience' - why does it matter so much?  Great question.

Think of every experience on the web/Internet as an experience in communication ... an invitation to engage in a dialogue.  With so much to do, with so many places to go, things to do, and people to talk to - in cyber space and the real world - if you want someone's attention then you've got to provide a worthwhile experience. 

Marketing and sales departments in the corporate world understood this first.  Governments and nonprofits followed.  But that's the past.  Today, the most effective fundraising organizations recognize that successful fundraising begins with successful communication ... and successful communication is a multi-media experience.  That's why web technology - especially social media - can be such an effective tool for engaging and organizing people to support a charity's cause.  Just ask the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Nobody does it better than they do.

"But how does this apply to workplace giving?" you ask.  "After all, our giving programs involve a one-time ask in the fall, followed by a year of payroll deduction.  We aren't professional fundraisers."

My answer is simple.  Donor experience is the ticket to the dance.  Giving through the workplace offers great benefits to the employee donor - payroll deduction and, often, matching dollars, are two of them.  But while those benefits help close the sale, today they don't open the door.  Donor experience is the key. Let me put it a different way:  there is a reason why nobody looks at DOS prompts anymore - right?

Before an employee will participate in a giving program, he or she wants to know:  Do I trust this?  Who else is doing it?  Does my company care?  Is it easy?  Is it interesting or even fun?  Can I share my opinion?  The answers to all of these questions are communicated through the 'donor experience' ... and most of the answers are communicated quickly and visually, through aspects of a website such as design and feature options. 

If the donor experience is inviting and positive, then you've got a good chance at engaging the donor.  Once engaged, you are on the path to success.  Don't ask the employee donor to watch a 15" black and white TV when the market standard is a 52" wall-mounted plasma color TV with surround sound.  Donor experience is a big deal.